Idk, I'm seeing a big change since Obama has taken office, and its all good. The economy crash was all in part due to Bush administration policies. Obama is just picking up the pieces. To make money, you have to spend money. And for the Clinton administration to have us out of debt, and then for bush to send us so far into debt that the country is essentially doomed. Big change there. Obama is doing better than Bush ever did.
Political Views and Opinions Thread
- Thread starter Zorua
- Start date
This would appear to be a thread where Egypt and USA are highly important. I guess I'm the only British poster on this thread, but I dunno. Anyone for British politics?
I have to say, Egypt is getting out of hand. People were killed before Mubarak supporters came, trampled by others etc. If darned Mubarak would step down there'd be so much less death.
I have to say, Egypt is getting out of hand. People were killed before Mubarak supporters came, trampled by others etc. If darned Mubarak would step down there'd be so much less death.
See, this is where opinions differ. Republicans see it as just taking LESS from the rich. The idea is that if you let them keep their money, they'll spend it and that will drive the economy forward. If you take it and give it to the lower classes, there becomes less of an incentive to make a larger income, since it evens out so much.Hyperbeem said:
I fail to see where I was hating. I only said that IF one hates on Bush for spending, they SHOULD hate on Obama for spending even more. I never said I hate anything or anyone, or suggested it.Darkvoid57 said:
Well, that may be true and everything, but what I fail to understand is tax cuts for the rich. It just doesn't make sense. Also, there is always an incentive to make more money, even if you just make a dollar more than someone, even on the graduated percent scale, you will have more money after taxes.
Well, no offense to anyone here but Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck seem a little... crazy to me. Their points have generally no value and are full of baseless critiscism while they provide no useful insights. The Colbert report is decent but it smashes conservatives a bit too hard. My favorite is definitely the Jon Stewart show. That guy is ridiculously smart, and he makes everyone look like a fool next to him.
you do know the colbert report is a direct spoof of the o'riley factor, right?
on a side note, most of the stories on fox news are not news. Fox news channel isn't even a news channel anymore. Kind of like how mtv is no longer a music channel.
back to politics. We need socialized medicine. At the very least for the elderly. People lose their homes that had previously been paid off cuz of medical bills.
and those that say america has the best healthcare in the world, look at infant mortality rates and life expectancy.. You'll see it's not true.
why are americans so afraid to revolt??? I doubt european countries would put up with what we do.
revolution! Lol, like it has any chance of starting in a pokemon thread.
on a side note, most of the stories on fox news are not news. Fox news channel isn't even a news channel anymore. Kind of like how mtv is no longer a music channel.
back to politics. We need socialized medicine. At the very least for the elderly. People lose their homes that had previously been paid off cuz of medical bills.
and those that say america has the best healthcare in the world, look at infant mortality rates and life expectancy.. You'll see it's not true.
why are americans so afraid to revolt??? I doubt european countries would put up with what we do.
revolution! Lol, like it has any chance of starting in a pokemon thread.
A LITTLE crazy??? I mean I give my absolute respect to the 1st Amendment, but when some guy like Beck goes on national TV to say that Barack Obama is a racist and claims his administration is out to slaughter your family (can't get the links at the moment, just search Youtube) – I'm honestly starting to second guess myself! In fact CBS called Beck out on that statement and made him "explain himself," I think it was Katie Couric who did the interview. And I'm not taking sides by saying I'm on the "moron on the far-left," but I once saw the an interview he did with Sarah Plain back in '08, and I don't know whether I was more hysterically laughing, or just plain scared. And it's odd too when you compare Beck to O'Reilly and Limbaugh, considering he's a relatively young guy who you wouldn't expect to be the stereotypical gung-ho dare I say conservative extremist. And if his rants don't anger you enough, it should anger you even more that the guy makes $40 MILLION a year just putting the junk on the air. I don't know which is worse, FOX News or North Korean propaganda media, but I can tell you FOX is at least much more entertaining, hahaHyperbeem said:
… If anyone still knows who the rapper Nas is, he started an incredibly well-organized protest a while back against the news corporation at their HQ in New York, and even wrote "Sly Fox," a track basically denouncing the entire group, to which O'Reilly then of course attacked Nas for it quite disrespectfully and nastily, in his usual fashion (and for those of you still grappling with the fact hip-hop or rap could ever be a legitimate form of music , it's a quite well-crafted piece of work, despite being a bit grotesque and more politically motivated/profound than artistic). I have to give my honest opinion in saying that capitalism and news media aren't quite a match made in heaven… and that goes for all politically skewed conservative and liberal media that need to appease the partisan rebels (that THEY MADE partisan through their bogus programming) to make their fortune (Comedy Central included if you're that misguided to call it news, Stewart has verbally recognized that), the closest private news group to legitimate I would consider would be CNN, but geez, does nobody still watch PBS? The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer , that's objective news for ya (though because it's legitimate I guess most people would call it boring, right?…). Remember when TV actually used to give you the facts, and then you came to your own opinion on it? I bet nobody who faithfully believes in FOX can…but that's just my call .
the BBC news is far more open and honest about everything. CNN is a little skewed to the left. just a tad. I think it's mostly because Anderson cooper himself leans left, and he's one of their more popular guys. I think it's those blue eyes. lol
Well I was only considering American private groups, but if you go international of course BBC is reliable, even though its mainstream presence unfortunately is relatively inferior over here in the states compared to the big-guns like CNN. But then again BBC sort of has to be honest or else the British government pulls the plug on them , even if it's skewing matters overseas in American politics. Being government-funded doesn't give you a whole lot of flexibility in the "ignorance department," especially when you have such a large base in international operations… And though CNN does have a leftist sway, it's not enough to deliberately subjectify the news like FOX does on the right, or NBC on the left with some of its programming (you could include CBS to a lesser extent). The worst you'll see is maybe chopped and screwed clips, but I can't personally find any evidence of that myself, it might even just be rightwing media attacks, who knows…
About Anderson Cooper though, if the situation gets any worse in Egypt, don't expect to be seeing himanymore as often . He's the only guy I know who can go into "hiding" and be on internationally-seen television at the same time every night of the week . In all seriousness though, regardless of political accusations, he's an incredible journalist – the only way you can get the real story is if you get a live-feed in the middle of the action, it takes some serious dedication and concern for the world to throw yourself into the middle of a revolution in Egypt or an earthquake in Haiti, even if you get paid immensely to do it. (and off-topic: I just found out recently Cooper grew up partially around where I live now, and that he's also an heir to the Vanderbilts – one of the family's mansions is a short ways away from where I live, it was built starting in 1910 and is now a huge museum for natural history, marine science, and astronomy with a lot of educational programs.)
, even if it's skewing matters overseas in American politics. Being government-funded doesn't give you a whole lot of flexibility in the "ignorance department," especially when you have such a large base in international operations… And though CNN does have a leftist sway, it's not enough to deliberately subjectify the news like FOX does on the right, or NBC on the left with some of its programming (you could include CBS to a lesser extent). The worst you'll see is maybe chopped and screwed clips, but I can't personally find any evidence of that myself, it might even just be rightwing media attacks, who knows…About Anderson Cooper though, if the situation gets any worse in Egypt, don't expect to be seeing him
. He's the only guy I know who can go into "hiding" and be on internationally-seen television at the same time every night of the week . In all seriousness though, regardless of political accusations, he's an incredible journalist – the only way you can get the real story is if you get a live-feed in the middle of the action, it takes some serious dedication and concern for the world to throw yourself into the middle of a revolution in Egypt or an earthquake in Haiti, even if you get paid immensely to do it. (and off-topic: I just found out recently Cooper grew up partially around where I live now, and that he's also an heir to the Vanderbilts – one of the family's mansions is a short ways away from where I live, it was built starting in 1910 and is now a huge museum for natural history, marine science, and astronomy with a lot of educational programs.)
Wow, I thought there was going be a war. It doesn't seem like that it can end that easily. If I heard correctly, Mubarak gave his power to the Egyptian military. I'm no genius, but I think the military might be angry at the rioters for forcing Mubarak out. More shootings may occur, but maybe not. I hope they do don't.
The Military taking over? This can only end bad. With no real direct leader there will be alot of different things floating around. This might cause even more riots. Like you said, the military might be angry at the riots over the president, so the military may take unessesary actions.
The military and the Egyptian people are one and the same, the public looks up to the military with a great reverence actually because nearly every Egyptian household has a father/husband/son who serves, if I'm correct it's in fact mandatory. Furthermore, during the revolution the past couple of weeks (I guess we can call it that now ), the military played more of a mediating role in the conflict – the rioters and police were in direct conflict, but the military came in largely to break it up, as there was a fondness for them on both sides, despite the fact they ultimately had been working for Mubarak. So I don't think there's gonna be an insane imposition of martial law, but the fact that there's no "official" civil government is kind of worrisome, considering that type of chaos and constant fear of military coup is present or coming to a boil in countries like Haiti, Costa Rica, and much of developing Africa, where in essence the first guy who gets up in the morning runs the country (or even worse a new autocrat emerges). So in that respect what happens now is many times more crucial than actually removing Mubarak, like Obama said "it's just the beginning." And by that same token it's up to the Egyptian people to decide what happens next, not foreign superpowers or the domestic military prodding the national establishment in the back like they'd been doing for most of the time before Mubarak scrammed. But wow, getting this far already, I can only tip my hat in absolute astonishment and admiration (go Egypt! ) – first Tunisia and now this, talk about a grassroots revolution! We oughta have them more often on this planet, haha .
), the military played more of a mediating role in the conflict – the rioters and police were in direct conflict, but the military came in largely to break it up, as there was a fondness for them on both sides, despite the fact they ultimately had been working for Mubarak. So I don't think there's gonna be an insane imposition of martial law, but the fact that there's no "official" civil government is kind of worrisome, considering that type of chaos and constant fear of military coup is present or coming to a boil in countries like Haiti, Costa Rica, and much of developing Africa, where in essence the first guy who gets up in the morning runs the country (or even worse a new autocrat emerges). So in that respect what happens now is many times more crucial than actually removing Mubarak, like Obama said "it's just the beginning." And by that same token it's up to the Egyptian people to decide what happens next, not foreign superpowers or the domestic military prodding the national establishment in the back like they'd been doing for most of the time before Mubarak scrammed. But wow, getting this far already, I can only tip my hat in absolute astonishment and admiration (go Egypt! ) – first Tunisia and now this, talk about a grassroots revolution! We oughta have them more often on this planet, haha .We haven't seen a Revolution like what we've witnessed in Egypt since the German Revolution that lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall back in the 80's and early 90's. I'm hoping that whoever becomes the new President of Egypt that he or she will lead the country toward a peaceful future without having to become an Islamic state like Iran currently is.
We can't let the Muslim Brotherhood take advantage of this and that's something that the United States and perhaps the entire world can't afford either. Afterall the U.S. and perhaps the rest of the world still relies on oil from the Suez Canal in Egypt to fuel their vehicles and that's just more proof that America and other countries need to break their dependence on foreign oil.
What's really slowing us down from the Age of the Electric Car is that Oil Companies don't want to lose money or go bankrupt. So what do they do? They make it harder for everyone else that uses transportation by manipulating the price of oil. Everyone even the Middle East is going to have to convert to Electric transportation eventually. The time for action is now...
We can't let the Muslim Brotherhood take advantage of this and that's something that the United States and perhaps the entire world can't afford either. Afterall the U.S. and perhaps the rest of the world still relies on oil from the Suez Canal in Egypt to fuel their vehicles and that's just more proof that America and other countries need to break their dependence on foreign oil.
What's really slowing us down from the Age of the Electric Car is that Oil Companies don't want to lose money or go bankrupt. So what do they do? They make it harder for everyone else that uses transportation by manipulating the price of oil. Everyone even the Middle East is going to have to convert to Electric transportation eventually. The time for action is now...
Everyone reading this - I'd like to note that this post was originaly a thread starter. However, after a small issue and some discussion with a couple moderators, I will be posting it on this thread. I haven't changed this post at all since it was originally posted a couple days ago.
Enjoy.
Hello there. It is I, BlueEyedSteelix, here to dish out my daily dose of common sense.
I BY NO MEANS intend to start a flame war by my "harsh" tone. I want this to be an open debate.
In my opinion, these Fox News protesters that have been up in arms lately have literally raised the bar on stupidity. Why you may ask?
Let me start this out by saying that I am 100% Independent and Common Sense driven. What does this mean? It means that I swear affiliation to no party, and that I am a completely independent thinker. I have my opinions, but they are not simply because my parents are hardcore Republicans or my friends are extreme Democrats. My opinions are my own because I can justify every single one of them with facts and solid reasoning.
My background: My mom is a hardcore Republican, and, thank God, I received my dad's common sense driven ideals and morals. I am Catholic. I believe that abortion is murder (because it is), that God is my savior, and that the environment is important. Feel free to ask me more about my background if you wish.
Now, onto the topic of Fox News Protesters. It is really no question that Fox News does lean to the right. I think we all know that, even the Republicans who defend Fox as a completely neutral news organization. Left wing Democrats and liberals love to raise heck about how Fox News is destroying the country and ruining our future. I truly think those of you who live in other countries get a kick out of our political system, as yes, it is that screwed up.
Look, it's really fine to protest Fox News if you truly believe that they're completely corrupt. HOWEVER, when your extreme left wing buddies on the other side of the aisle spew hate and unbelievably biased garbage and insulting trash TWENTY-FOUR SEVEN over at MSNBC, that would even make Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cringe, I think you lose some credibility. If these idiots, yes, I said idiots, were protesting Fox News for being conservative, that would make sense, but calling them corrupt nazis who want to take over the country? Yeah, I think you just lost a lot of credibility.
The fact is that Fox News IS Fair and Balanced, considering they almost always have at least one liberal on the air for debates. With the exception of Alan Colmes, they really do treat them with respect although they don't agree with them. However, take a look at MSNBC on the left wing side and you will truly be surprised. They spew hate EVERY SINGLE SECOND of airtime they get, talking about how stupid and hate-driven Republicans are, which is simply not true. Anyone else think they know why Keith Olbermann was fired? Yeah, because the man is an embarrassment to humanity. Any liberal who truly believes that Fox News is destroying this country needs to check their mental status. It is beyond the realm of hypocrisy to insult Fox News on the grounds of not being Fair and Balanced, but to have your buddies over on the left personally insult Republicans and the Tea Party on a daily basis. I truly challenge any liberal who reads this to justify that to me.
All in all, while the two party system may seem completely ridiculous sometimes, I really do think it's the right way to run a country. The downsides to having two parties are really not as bad as other popular ideas. However, when all one party can do is send their following out to attack a news organization for putting a light on their corruption, you know theres a serious problem with reality. I hope this brings some light to it, and even you Democrats will understand where I'm coming from.
Please, I want educated and factual responses. Thank you.
-T
Enjoy.
Hello there. It is I, BlueEyedSteelix, here to dish out my daily dose of common sense.
I BY NO MEANS intend to start a flame war by my "harsh" tone. I want this to be an open debate.
In my opinion, these Fox News protesters that have been up in arms lately have literally raised the bar on stupidity. Why you may ask?
Let me start this out by saying that I am 100% Independent and Common Sense driven. What does this mean? It means that I swear affiliation to no party, and that I am a completely independent thinker. I have my opinions, but they are not simply because my parents are hardcore Republicans or my friends are extreme Democrats. My opinions are my own because I can justify every single one of them with facts and solid reasoning.
My background: My mom is a hardcore Republican, and, thank God, I received my dad's common sense driven ideals and morals. I am Catholic. I believe that abortion is murder (because it is), that God is my savior, and that the environment is important. Feel free to ask me more about my background if you wish.
Now, onto the topic of Fox News Protesters. It is really no question that Fox News does lean to the right. I think we all know that, even the Republicans who defend Fox as a completely neutral news organization. Left wing Democrats and liberals love to raise heck about how Fox News is destroying the country and ruining our future. I truly think those of you who live in other countries get a kick out of our political system, as yes, it is that screwed up.
Look, it's really fine to protest Fox News if you truly believe that they're completely corrupt. HOWEVER, when your extreme left wing buddies on the other side of the aisle spew hate and unbelievably biased garbage and insulting trash TWENTY-FOUR SEVEN over at MSNBC, that would even make Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cringe, I think you lose some credibility. If these idiots, yes, I said idiots, were protesting Fox News for being conservative, that would make sense, but calling them corrupt nazis who want to take over the country? Yeah, I think you just lost a lot of credibility.
The fact is that Fox News IS Fair and Balanced, considering they almost always have at least one liberal on the air for debates. With the exception of Alan Colmes, they really do treat them with respect although they don't agree with them. However, take a look at MSNBC on the left wing side and you will truly be surprised. They spew hate EVERY SINGLE SECOND of airtime they get, talking about how stupid and hate-driven Republicans are, which is simply not true. Anyone else think they know why Keith Olbermann was fired? Yeah, because the man is an embarrassment to humanity. Any liberal who truly believes that Fox News is destroying this country needs to check their mental status. It is beyond the realm of hypocrisy to insult Fox News on the grounds of not being Fair and Balanced, but to have your buddies over on the left personally insult Republicans and the Tea Party on a daily basis. I truly challenge any liberal who reads this to justify that to me.
All in all, while the two party system may seem completely ridiculous sometimes, I really do think it's the right way to run a country. The downsides to having two parties are really not as bad as other popular ideas. However, when all one party can do is send their following out to attack a news organization for putting a light on their corruption, you know theres a serious problem with reality. I hope this brings some light to it, and even you Democrats will understand where I'm coming from.
Please, I want educated and factual responses. Thank you.
-T
Great discussion however maybe we should also change the subject to what's been going on recently with Wisconsin and their Budget Crisis by laying off Teachers and other workers or as Stephen Colbert likes to call it, "Turmoil in the Middle West." How about after we withdraw our troops from Afghanistan we send them over to Wisconsin, I agree with Colbert on that.
There seems to be a Labourer Worker War going on and I don't like it, much to the agreement of the same quote Mr. Horse said on Ren & Stimpy back in the 90's. I'm glad a guy like Chris Christie came out and spoke to people both Democrats and Republicans to get their heads out of their butts and work together on a bipartisan level.
Speaking of withdrawing from Afghanistan, why do Democrats think it's a bad idea? How come the U.S. never invaded Pakistan since it would be the ideal place that Osama bin Laden is hiding let alone a country like Yemen that is likely to harbor terrorists from al-qaeda and the Taliban? At this point we might as well pull out of Afghanistan but stay in Iraq until late this year.
There seems to be a Labourer Worker War going on and I don't like it, much to the agreement of the same quote Mr. Horse said on Ren & Stimpy back in the 90's. I'm glad a guy like Chris Christie came out and spoke to people both Democrats and Republicans to get their heads out of their butts and work together on a bipartisan level.
Speaking of withdrawing from Afghanistan, why do Democrats think it's a bad idea? How come the U.S. never invaded Pakistan since it would be the ideal place that Osama bin Laden is hiding let alone a country like Yemen that is likely to harbor terrorists from al-qaeda and the Taliban? At this point we might as well pull out of Afghanistan but stay in Iraq until late this year.
@BES, I've never bothered to watch MSNBC, so I won't try to back them up. But, have you ever noticed when FOX gets a liberal to discuss with them they talk down to them? They often try to get the most incompetent liberal they can find to make themselves look better. If somebody goes as far to say that FOX are "corrupt Nazis who want to take over the country/ are destroying it" then they are taking it too far and obviously shouldn't be listened to. Throughout your post, you've kept with the idea that all liberals agree with each other.
Another thing,
And so you don't stereotype me as well, I consider myself independent, too, both sides have some good points, but even more bad points.
Another thing,
So you're right because you say you're right? That contradicts this:
Care to justify this? How about your religion? Can you prove every single thing?
And so you don't stereotype me as well, I consider myself independent, too, both sides have some good points, but even more bad points.
The fact that you told me you've never bothered to watch MSNBC shows me just how ignorant you are in terms of knowing the facts of what I'm saying. I seriously don't mean to seem aggressive or insulting, but you just told me you don't understand half of the argument. With that said, let's continue.
Either you've never watched Fox News, you misspoke, or you have no idea what "talk down" means.
Fox News does not talk down liberals, they challenge them. I don't understand whats wrong with trying to actually understand what half of them are saying. Just because Fox News challenges liberals on their opinions and ideas, which yes, we know they typically disagree with, doesn't mean they "talk them down". Why do people think that challenging someone on their views is a bad thing. If anything, they should be able to further justify their opinions, not look like total idiots (like Naomi Wolf, YouTube it).
Don't put words in my mouth. I can and will justify why abortion is murder.
FACTS:
FOUR WEEKS after conception the outer layer of the egg is in the process of becoming the nervous system, skin and hair. Inside the egg, the cardiovascular system is beginning development.
SIX WEEKS after conception the heart beat starts.
If you didn't know, around 88% of abortions happen during the first trimester. The first trimester is week 1-12 after conception. Therefore, I don't think it takes a brain surgeon (or abortionist) to determine that 88% of abortions happen while the baby has a heartbeat. We can go technical on what true life really is. In my opinion, and I have the feeling most people asked would agree with me, heartbeat means life. Therefore, a defenseless heart-beating child being mutilated is murder.
Source: WebMD http://www.webmd.com/baby/healthtool-fetal-development-timeline
If you read my full post, you would know what I believe. Therefore, I don't feel it's necessary to explain.
I also never said that I could prove anything. While the answer is obviously no, I feel that you are, once again, trying to put words in my mouth.
Writing this, I did not stereotype you in the least. I'm glad you see yourself as independent. I wish that more people would.
^Okay, my responses:
I was informing you that I wouldn't be defending MSNBC, that's all.
They don't just challenge them, they talk to and about liberals like they are stupid and pass off their ideas as though they shouldn't be given a second thought, from what I've seen of it. I understand that not everybody does this, but I've noticed it mulitple times, especially Bill O'Reilly.
I brought up abortion because the only evidence you gave for your opinion was "because it is". The only explanation you gave was because you said it was. I could have said Harry Potter actually happened(because it did) and it would have had the same value as your statement. At least you did provide evidnce afterwards. I can respect you having your own opinion, and even though I have a different one, I won't argue it unless you want to.
The part about religion was because you said you justify all of your opinions with facts and reasoning and then mentioned you were Catholic. This contradicts what you said earlier because you cant justify every bit of any religion with facts and reasoning, it's faith.
I was informing you that I wouldn't be defending MSNBC, that's all.
They don't just challenge them, they talk to and about liberals like they are stupid and pass off their ideas as though they shouldn't be given a second thought, from what I've seen of it. I understand that not everybody does this, but I've noticed it mulitple times, especially Bill O'Reilly.
I brought up abortion because the only evidence you gave for your opinion was "because it is". The only explanation you gave was because you said it was. I could have said Harry Potter actually happened(because it did) and it would have had the same value as your statement. At least you did provide evidnce afterwards. I can respect you having your own opinion, and even though I have a different one, I won't argue it unless you want to.
The part about religion was because you said you justify all of your opinions with facts and reasoning and then mentioned you were Catholic. This contradicts what you said earlier because you cant justify every bit of any religion with facts and reasoning, it's faith.